Money Hungry Ministries Beware

1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self–control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak–willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.

2 Timothy 1-7

21 Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" 23 And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."

Matthew 7:21-23

The text above describes how people will be in the last days. But wait, isn't this how wicked about Christians not your average everyday sinner who doesn't know God or has rejected God. Having a form of Godliness is the key statement in this scripture. Christians on the outside who look like wonderful Christians but outside of church and in their hearts they are just as bad if not worse than the non Christians in the last days.

All of you that run ministries or churches need to pay close attention because I believe this scripture is for us. If you run a ministry or a church look at these questions below and think truthfully about your answers to the questions.

Which is more important, how much money your ministry makes or how many people it helps?

Who do you have the most faith in, money or Jesus? If you answered Jesus then why are you so worried about donations or sales?

Are you making money off a side ministry or does all the money every single dime go back into the ministry to make it better or to make it reach more and more people?

Is your Ministry a business or a ministry?

If you sell sermons and books why do you sell them at retail prices? Why are they copyrighted? Why are you worried about people burning your sermons and giving them away for free? Did Jesus sell any of his sermons to people? Did Jesus charge people to attend his meetings? Did Jesus quote prophets in the Bible without giving them due credit on who he was quoting? Yes sometimes he did but most of the time he did not bring attention to who he was quoting and let the people focus on the message.

We understand it costs money to make these DVD programs and it cost money to reproduce them. We are not saying its wrong. We are mainly pointing out that sometimes we see ministries and churches worry more about tithe, sales, and donations more than they worry about spreading the gospel.

Why is it that we have more faith in money than we have in Jesus. The Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want. The Shepherd takes care of his sheep. He makes sure they have water and grass and makes sure the creatures that are out to eat them are kept far away from the flock. So why do we still worry about money?! If its God's will, the money will come, if its not then God will show the way. David Gates is a wonderful example. He does not know ever if he will have enough money to pay for his programs. Sometimes the money comes in just in time and sometimes it doesn't come in. But his ministry never asks for donations. That is very admirable. He keeps his supporters informed with what they are doing and what they are praying for but never asks for anything. He has faith God will provide if it is his will.

Broken Adventist Ministry started on a credit card and with no Jobs. We told God we would do this ministry until the credit ran out. The credit never ran out and we have never asked for donations and have never sold anything, only given. We have never not been able to send out a book request or DVD request. Yes sometimes we are slow at shipping because the money does get low but it always comes right back up. Yes we have asked for money on others behalf but try to avoid handling the money if at all possible. We prefer to reach out to our huge network of supporters to ask for help for a certain ministry and have the supporters send their money directly to them. The more we give the more money we have in our account.

Its amazing and I know if other ministries and churches took the same leap of faith and said Lord we will not worry about money. That is your problem because you are the President of this Ministry or Pastor of this Church. We will only worry about what you wanted us to worry about. Saving Souls, being fishers of men, Spreading the gospel to those who haven't heard it.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Revelation 3:15-17

21 Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" 23 And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."

Matthew 7:21-23

Source

.